Magnesium and titanium have positive heats of mixing. As a result they have not been found to form intermetallic compounds and they have very little mutual solubility. Equilibrium phase diagrams for the magnesium-titanium system are prepared using mixtures of predetermined compositions of magnesium and titanium from close to 100 percent magnesium to nearly 100 percent titanium. Each of several known-composition mixtures is examined at a range of temperatures at which all constituents are liquid and at a lower range of temperatures in which the constituents are wholly solid. At each temperature the mixture is allowed to attain an equilibrium state. The presence of one or more equilibrium phases at each temperature is observed and the composition of each phase is analyzed. As stated, mixtures of magnesium and titanium display little mutual solubility under such equilibrium conditions and no intermetallic compounds. However, titanium is a corrosion resistant material and there is interest in incorporating titanium in magnesium as a solid solution to increase the corrosion resistance of the resulting alloy and to obtain mechanical properties that result from a single-phase combination of these elements.
This disclosure provides solid solutions of titanium in magnesium by processes in which the titanium and magnesium do not reach an equilibrium condition as is obtained in processing which yields equilibrium phase products.